Young doctors begin career with heavy debts: BMA survey

Young doctors begin career with heavy debts: BMA survey

	Published : Tue, 20 Dec 2005 08:05 By : Paula Demarzio Print this Story

LONDON: Would-be doctors are running up debts totalling over £20,000 while still at medical college, according to a survey.

The survey covering 1,877 medical students in the UK revealed that medical students had a rising level of debt. By the time they are in their final year of a six year course, their average debt totals around £22,365 – 17 percent more than last year.

At least 100 students owed more than £30,000; 10 percent of those surveyed owed more than £25,000. Topping the debt list was just one student with debts totalling £55,000 followed by a student in Wales with debts of over £46,500. The average debt among students in the fifth year was £20,172.

A huge majority of 92 percent had a student loan; one in five had taken a bank loan – the average bank loan had grown 12 percent (from last year) to £8,580; and nearly 3 in five students had an overdraft.

The survey was conducted by the British Medical Association which explained that higher debt levels among medical students were due to the longer course duration compared to other courses. Besides, they have fewer chances to work part-time which might have helped meet the additional expenses of travelling to hospitals where they train, buying books and equipment such as stethoscopes. All these contribute to raise their debt level.

Contrasting with their debts is the basic annual salary of a young doctor: a junior doctor can earn around £20,295 in his/her first year.

The BMA has urged the NHS to extend medical course scholarships (currently available only to some students in the final year) to students in all the years of the course. The chairperson of the BMA’s Medical student Committee, Kirsty Lloyd said the survey’s findings made it very clear that medical students required more financial help.

Sabrina Talukdar, the chairperson of the BMA’s Scottish Medical Committee said that certain students from less affluent backgrounds could find rising debt a huge barrier to becoming a doctor. She called for “widening access” so that people from all backgrounds were encouraged to study medicine.